A blog by Alexandra Saetran

Spell & The Gypsy Collective – Interview

I’ve been lucky to interview the designers behind the brand Spell & The Gypsy Collective. The blog is one of my favourite of all times, and the products they are making in Byron Bay, Australia are amazing. You can follow them herewebsite. shop. facebook. twitter. bloglovin. tumblr. instagram. pinterest.

Can you tell us about your brand?
My sister Isabella and I (Elizabeth) run Spell together – it’s an extension of everything we love and would love to have around us all the time. If there’s something we desire we just create it! All you have to do is scroll through our tumblr to gage what our aesthetic is.

How did it all start?

Spell and i had always designed things together when young so it was kind of written in the stars that we’d eventually find our way together again after all these years. Through a few twists of fate I joined Spell in Byron Bay a few years ago and we joined forces again. With our combined skills somehow the business just blossomed – there’s so much passion behind everything we do with Spell, and I think that comes through with our blog.

What is a typical Spell & The Gypsy Collective-girl?

It’s so hard to try to pigeon hole our customers – they’re all so different! I think if there’s a few defining characteristics though and it’s a love of natural materials and an appreciation for mixing the modern with traditional or indigenous inspired adornment.

Where do you get inspiration from?

Our inspiration comes from everywhere! We’re inspired constantly through imagery we experience daily here in Byron Bay, or through the imagery we experience when travelling abroad. When we get to meet local artisans from far off cultures we soak up their wisdom and ask them to share their wealth of knowledge with us. We get daily doses of inspiration through all the creative people we follow in instagram and by exploring the collaborative and ever evolving blogosphere, it’s so much more collaborative and interactive than magazines.

What are the biggest challenges of being a designer today?

Something we’re finding quite challenging at the moment is finding it hard to keep up with demand because all of our designs are hand-made. Even the items we have made in Indonesia are still made by our small team of local artisans in their homes, not in big factories. Sometimes our customers don’t understand when things are made by hand there’s a much longer turn around. I think though, that today, with such easy access to online marketing and online-shopping anyone can start their own label – and then market it globally. All you need is passion and drive.

Do you have any advises to emerging designers?

Start a blog and nurture it like you would a plant, watering and feeding it daily! Interact with your readership and develop relationships with your customer base so you can start to understand them. Use the process of photo shoots to really establish your own aesthetic. This way, once you have a collection to sell, you’ll have your own thriving platform through which to share it with the world!

Thank you so much for answering me, “Spell and the Gypsy”! Good luck on your journey! Hope I`ll get the change to visit your shop one day.